‘Embrace poultry manure as fertiliser substitute’

In the wake of the rising cost and inadequate supply of chemical fertilisers, farmers have been urged to embrace poultry manure as a perfect and cheaper substitute for chemical fertilisers.

There are growing concerns about the escalating cost as well as insufficient supply of chemical fertilisers on the market; a situation many fear could trigger a reduction in food production, thereby threating food security in the country.

The anxiety has been heightened by the withdrawal of some fertiliser suppliers from government’s fertiliser subsidy progamme, which has been the major affordable medium farmers across the country use to buy the nutrients-supplement.

An agronomist and District Director of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) in the Tano North district of Brong Ahafo, John Ayisi in an interview with B&FT said poultry manure among other things is free, has more micro-nutrients to its advantage over chemical fertilizers, and is free from the issue of over-application.

He said: “Poultry manure is well-decomposed; chemical fertilisers have been fabricated to solely achieve something special, but poultry manure gives additional important nutrients like iron and magnesium; it conserves moisture and allows beneficial micro-organisms to break down nutrients easily”.

There are some schools of thought who are of the view that poultry manure is too dirty, heavy and bulky to be transported to farms, but Mr. Ayisi indicated they are all negative propoganda, saying: “Poultry manure is the best for crops such as maize, rice and vegetables, especially at this time when farmers are yelling at increasing production cost negatively affecting their profitability”.

The agronomist also advised farmers to adhere to strict and appropriate agronomic practices, especially when dealing with scientifically tailored crop varieties. “Most of the newly-developed varieties suitably grow well in line with specific agronomic practices, such as timely fertiliser application which must not be compromised,” he added.

A maize farmer at Nsoatre, Johnson Kwaku Takyi told B&FT that he has saved his purse thousands of Ghana cedis by opting for poultry manure at the expense of chemical fertiliser. “You can imagine how much I would have spent on fertiliser to cover my three-acre farm, but with poultry manure I only needed to transport it to my farm.”

He said, “Times are hard and this is one of the paradigm shifts all farmers must reflect on to help stay afloat”.